For as long as I can remember, my dad has made it clear that the family is important to him. Dad chose to work at home so that he can spend more time with the family. He welcomes us at all times of the day to show him a craft or a test grade and he works hard to make sure that we don't feel like a nuisance but that we understand that he values our attention.

God has given my dad a passion for teaching. Everything is a lesson, and it is rare that I walk away from a conversation without learning something. A couple of days ago, while setting up a pantograph for my mom, he was excitedly explaining to Kelly and me the device's historical use by President Thomas Jefferson. Family dinners are so much fun - especially now as Amy and I are approaching voting age. We are often discussing or debating something, whether it be our stand on a political issue, or a historical fact, or how our government works. Dad encourages us to pay attention in school by eagerly listening to anything we share - especially about history or physics. It is not uncommon that we find ourselves the teachers and our parents the students! Earlier as he was helping me with some technical aspects of a blog post - he took some time to teach me how to understand some of the code that he was entering. Dad also practices what he preaches. He not only tells us how important education is but he proved it to us by going back to get both a Bachelor's and a Master's degree!

Kelly is helping eProductivity by tracking the paperwork for the Beta program.

Meet Kelly Mack, manager of Beta Program record keeping

As Beta users install the latest release of eProductivity, we record the date so that we know who’s really using the software. This important task is the responsibility of our manager of Beta Program record keeping, Kelly Mack (age 10). In this picture you can see Kelly faithfully doing her job.

I've just completed all of the requirements to earn my Master of Information and Knowledge Management Degree, with honors. Just over three years ago I closed the first chapter of this journey. Today, I close the second chapter. Before I begin the next chapter, I want to pause and reflect on my experience and thank the many people that helped me get to this point.

After working for two decades as a consultant in the areas of technology, information management, collaboration, and productivity, I realized that while these were all good things to do, the next opportunity was in the area of how we manage what we know and what we do with what we know. That realization led me to pursue the field of knowledge management and the management of intellectual capital. Unlike many people in the 1990's and early 2000's, I decided not to focus on the organizational level but rather to direct my attention to the individual or personal aspect of knowledge management. My work as an eProductivity specialist taught me that it's much easier to bring about a lasting impact working with individuals - from the bottom-up - than to try and create a system to be imposed on the organization top-down. Thus, my interest in knowledge management, and specifically my interest in what is frequently referred to as personal knowledge management, began.

If you have ever had the experience of associating a positive experience at an event with a particular song or type of music, you'll know what I'm referring to in this post.

Last month, when I went to Manila to deliver the Beyond-Planning: eProductivity conference, I also attended church services at the Cathedral of Praise. Since my conference was during the week, I had the opportunity to attend several services at each weekend.

While some of the worship experience was new for me, we worship the same God and read from the same Bible. One of the worship songs that I heard at each service was called "How can I keep from singing your praise" by songwriter Chris Tomlin. What a beautiful song of expression of love and worship for our creator.

It's become a powerful worship song for me, as well as a sweet reminder of my time of fellowship with the dear people at COP.

I was unfamiliar with this song or songwriter, but it turns out that we sing many of Chris Tomlin's songs in our worship service, too. Chris has an amazing gift for capturing the essence in true worship in his songs. For me, Chris' songs create a sense of awe and wonder and they add to my personal worship experience.

When I returned to the states, I went to iTunes store and purchased this song and four additional worship songs by Chris.

Indescribable How Great is Our God Made to Worship How Can I Keep from Singing Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)

These are now on my iPod for my morning quiet (well, not so quiet) time.

It feels good to mark off a large project like this as "completed." It's been an exhilarating 12 days in Manila, speaking to over 4,000+ attendees of the Beyond Planning: eProductivity Conference. In the course of the six day conference, I delivered over 30 sessions and even added an impromptu session on my day off. The 24 hour trip (door-to-door) home was made ever more challenging by spending it seated next to a 2 1/2 year OLD boy that screamed about his bottle all the way from the airport, onto the plane, and through U.S. Customs and baggage claim. I was delighted to help the frazzled mother with her bags and on her way. I don't know how she did it.

I enjoyed my stay in Manila; the people were most gracious and caring. On the last day, I even got a private tour of the countryside, including a trip to see the volcano. That was fun. The country and people of the Philippines are wonderful. At the same time, I'm glad to be heading home to see my family, which is why this sign was so welcoming to me...

The conference has required a lot of my attention for the past 8 weeks, time away from family, school, clients and friends. With the conference now behind me, I'm planning to unhook for a few days of R&R, then, when I've had an opportunity to review my notes and the photos from the media crew, I will blog about the conference.

I crashed hard last night at about 7:30 PM local time. Now, it's 3:43 AM local time and I'm wide awake. I'd rather be on this side of jet lag. Anyway, I enjoyed a nice quiet time, reading my Bible and listening to my favorite hymns and worship songs in my hotel room. I'm normally a late night person, and while getting up early for a quiet time has long been a desire of mine, it does not happen as often as I would like. So, I'm thankful for opportunities like these when I actually get up before the clock sounds.

Focusing on the outcome This conference has required so much work and preparation that's easy to forget the purpose of the conference itself and focus on mechanics and delivery. The purpose of this conference is about helping people. I desire to be a part of that process, by sharing some of what I have learned in the past 25 years in business with the hope that others will find some of it useful and learn from it, too. I'm really excited about the vision that Pastor Sumrall has for these conferences that he does each year to help the people of Manila and I'm honored to be invited to be this year's featured speaker. It's an awesome responsibility and opportunity.

One of the things that surprised me about coming to Manila this week was the professionalism and attention to detail exhibited by the people preparing for this conference. I was surprised to walk down the hall and see an office -- with my name on it -- being set up for the conference.

The office was not for me, but for people assigned to work on planning, marketing, promoting, and preparing for the conference. in addition to the various committees, there are six people (that I know of) responsible for promotion, registration, event planning, and the print and web-site materials. I've been doing my best to learn everyone's name and now I have several new ones to learn. I will get someone to match the names I wrote down with all of the faces in the photos I am posting to the blog so that when I return next month I can greet everyone by name.

I'm appreciative to have the support from this staff and I look forward to helping them serve the people of Manila.

I've been eating very well (too well!) during my entire stay. Per my Doctor's instructions, I stayed away from fresh salads and some fruits, but I've feasted on everything else.

Almost every meeting had food of some kind. (Think Panda Express, but 10 time better - all day) Sunday, we were treated to a delightful dinner by a new chef - a young man who I'm sure will someday earn a four star rating for his cooking and presentation.

After one meal, I patted my belly and remarked at how much I would have to do to lose what I had gained during the trip, to which pastor Sumrall replied,

"You're not fat, you're building the temple."

I'm not sure I can support that statement biblically, but it made me feel better nonetheless.

When Pastor Sumrall first contacted me to discuss coming to Manila to deliver an eProductivity conference, I was surprised. (I actually put him off, but that's a separate story to share.) I'd never heard of a church organizing a productivity conference on such a large scale (actually, on any scale), let alone, bring in a speaker from another country.

Pastor Sumrall explained that this conference was being organized by the Kasaganaan business fellowship and the School of Christian Entrepreneurial Studies (SCES). This business group and school focus on equipping Christians in the Philippines to do "business by the Book" and to help members who are so inclined to find new opportunities by becoming entrepreneurs, better employees, managers, and business owners.

I was intrigued, so I asked why they do this. I even asked if this was a way to get people into church for group evangelism. Would there be an altar call, I wondered?

I came to Manila with slacks, a few eProductivity polo shirts, and a shirt, tie, and jacket for my television interview. These are not common attire here. It's far too hot and humid to spend much time outside in a suit or jacket. So, on Friday night, Pastor Marlan drove me into town to Tesoro's to be fitted for a Barong Tagalog. This evening, they presented me with a blue and brown Barong, which I will wear proudly for the remainder of my stay here.

I'm told that the Barong is considered formal attire for Filipino men - similar to wearing a coat or a dress shirt. It's lightweight, very comfortable, and covers my temple well (LINK)

A potential client called me this week and asked if I would be interested in delivering an eProductivity seminar to a very large audience in Asia. I told him I was. He seemed most interested to know if I was comfortable speaking to a very large audience - like 5,000-8,000 people. I said that I was and I shared that I had a life-changing event many many years ago that gave me great comfort speaking in front of large audiences. Here's what happened...

This past week, I graduated with a business degree in Organizational Management. I worked hard, and I managed, with God's grace, to keep my grades up throughout the entire program, graduating Summa Cum Laude, with a GPA of 3.988.

I want to publicly thank the Lord for this opportunity and I want to extend my thanks to the many people who have helped, encouraged and supported my efforts. My next action is a significant one, I will be working toward my Master of Information and Knowledge Management degree.

I could not have managed the demands of family, clients, business, and my education, without a great deal of determination, love and support from my wife and children, and my extended family, friends, classmates and clients. My suite of eProductivity tools, along with the Getting Things Doneskill's that I've acquired while serving The David Allen Company, also came in handy for managing the multiple projects and actions I needed to complete along the way.

For many years, one of my hobbies has been
robotics. This led to my interest and fascination with Computer Aided
Design and Computer Aided Machining - the process by which you can take
a concept from design to finished part - all by computer. Last year,
I purchased a Sherline
Mill and Lathe, along with a Grifftek
CNC conversion. I have
started to document my learning process and that the best way to help me
learn, would be to document and share my experiences with others.
Today, I launched Eric
Mack's hobby CNC web site,
which I hope will accomplish this purpose.